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| Middle East |
| Texts of Fatah, Hamas and Islamic Jihad truce declarations |
| 2003-06-30 |
| Hat Tip: LGF Here are the statements released on Sunday by Hamas and the Islamic Jihad groups in Gaza City and by Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement in the West Bank, declaring the beginning of a truce to halt attacks against Israelis. Fatah declared a six-month truce, while the Islamic groups' cease-fire is three months. Also, the Fatah statement notes the goal of a Palestinian state in all of the West Bank, Gaza Strip and Jerusalem, while the Islamic groups demand an end to Zionist occupation of Palestinian land, which can be interpreted as including Israel. The Islamic groups do not accept a Jewish state in the Middle East. I have a few observations to add to the list: The Fatah "statement" demands a rollback to 1967 borders - which is VERY different than the "roadmap" and guaranteed to be rejected by Israel. Also, the Fatah statement, pedantically specific in most respects, demands Israel "release all the prisoners and detainees from the Israeli prisons" - at least the Islamic groups' declaration demands only Palestinian and Arab detainees be released. Of course, there are inanities in the Islamic statement, too, such as the demand that "children" detainees be released. Perhaps they define anyone who has not yet stopped breast-feeding as a child, rather than the age of the person in question. And you just KNOW it's the "truth" - the article is on SFGate.com |
| Posted by:PD |